Are You Happy?
by almostmissingyou
Summary: ONESHOT "Have you ever done something that maybe you thought was the right thing at the time, but it wasn’t?" A sequel to "A Reason to Stay". Joe let Lilly go. Can they be friends again? Can they be more than that? LOE.


**I really should be studying for my midterms, but this story wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it down...So here it is! Hopefully it's coherent...it might be midterms addled...And the title is kind of random. I couldn't think of one but it's a line in the story, so...**

**So a few people asked for a sequel for "A Reason to Stay" and here it is! I don't think you absolutely need to read the first to read this one, although it might help. Thanks to all of you who reviewed and or favorited "A Reason to Stay" and thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!**

**p.s. I wish I owned Kevin Jonas, but I don't. And I don't own any of the rest of them either. –le sigh- **

**HMHMHMHMHM**

"Um…Lilly? What's the point of having that many shoes?" Joe asked over the phone. He was sitting in his living room, talking to his best friend. "I mean, there's no possible way that you can even wear them all in your lifetime!"

"Shut it, Jonas," Lilly laughed. "I only bought three new pairs."

"Yeah…today. And yesterday, you bought two, and the other day you bought four! Face it, Lils, Paris is corrupting you." Lilly had moved to Paris with her dad, fulfilling a childhood dream of living in the City of Lights. As a kid, she had loved everything about France and now that she was there, it sounded like she was having the time of her life. Joe was happy for her, but he missed her. A lot. She'd been gone for six months now, but the ache he felt from missing her grew worse each day.

"Ha!" Lilly's scoff brought him back to their conversation. "This, coming from the guy who just _had_ to buy seven vests in one trip to the mall."

"Excuse me, Miss Truscott, but I only bought six."

"But that's only because the girl at the store threw the seventh one in for free when you winked at her!" She had him there.

"Oh geez," she said. "I gotta go. I have a test tomorrow morning and Dad said I absolutely have to be in bed by midnight or I can't talk to you on the phone for a week. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Lils. Good luck on your test! So…same time tomorrow?"

"You do know that your phone bill is going to be absolutely ridiculous, right?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Joe answered. "But you're worth it."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "I miss you, Joe," Lilly said quietly.

"I miss you, too. But you need your rest, so I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said and the two teens hung up the phone.

Everyday for the past two months, Joe called her at 2:00pm his time, while his brothers were at school and his parents were at work. He liked that he had the house to himself when he talked to Lilly. That way it was just their time and no one else would intrude. Frankie was still in elementary school, Nick was in the middle of his junior year in high school and Kevin was taking classes at a local college. Joe was taking classes at the college, too, but his classes finished at 1:00.

Joe and Lilly had been the best of friends before she went off to Paris, but things became strained before she left. He had not reacted well to her leaving, and they hadn't communicated at all for a month after. Over the past five months, they'd slowly been piecing their friendship back together, starting with Joe calling her on the day that they had declared as Lilly and Joe Day. Conversation at first had been stiff and stilted but over time, through e-mails and IMs and more phone calls they gradually got comfortable with each other again and were almost as good of friends as they were before everything happened.

Not to say that everything was perfect. There was still tension between them. Joe was still a little angry that Lilly had left in the first place, and she was still a little hurt that he hadn't come to say goodbye. They fought a lot, but there never was a day where they didn't talk in some way, shape or form. If there was one thing that first month had taught them, it was that they _needed_ to talk to each other. There was also the little fact that Joe was completely in love with her. And she had absolutely no idea.

It was actually almost pathetic how in love with her he was. Without her, he was a shell of himself. He was quieter and more subdued. He didn't really go out anymore. Joe just hung out around the house and only went out for Jonas Brothers events, but he didn't go to the mall to chill, never went to the beach anymore, and he didn't socialize at all when he didn't have to. He never really did anything anymore. He wasn't as crazy as he normally was. Fans and the media attributed it to him getting his high school degree and getting more mature, but his brothers and his friends knew the real reason: he couldn't stop thinking about Lilly. In fact, the only time he acted like himself was when he was on the phone with her.

So he started calling her everyday about a couple of months ago. He was always the one that called. She tried calling him once, but somehow she had gotten the time difference mixed up and let's just say that Mr. and Mrs. Jonas were not happy to hear the phone ringing at 4:00am. That was really funny considering that she called Miley, Oliver and his brothers all the time…needless to say, Joe insisted on doing the calling from then on.

The door burst open and Nick, Miley and Oliver came in, interrupting his thoughts. After Lilly left, his relationships with all three teens were strained; however, over the past few months things had gotten better. And now that they were talking to him again, he knew that they were worried about him. His parents and Kevin were worried about him. Heck, even Frankie was worried about him and he wasn't even sure exactly what was going on.

"How's Lilly?" Nick asked. He was always teasing Joe about his daily phone calls to the blond.

"She's good. She bought three new pairs of shoes today," Joe answered.

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Again? Seriously, what is she going to do with that many shoes?"

"That's what I asked," Joe shrugged. "But it's Lilly…"

Joe sat on the couch, blindly flipping through channels, not really paying attention to the TV, while Nick, Miley and Oliver did their homework. About two hours later, as Miley and Oliver were leaving, Miley invited Joe to go to the movies on Friday.

"We're going to see _Jumper_. It's supposed to be really good. Do you want to come with us?"

"That's okay. I think I'll just stay in," Joe said without hesitation. "Thanks, though."

"Joe, you never go out anymore! All you do is stay home and mope."

"I do not," Joe retorted. "I just don't like to go out. He was really hoping she'd drop the subject. He should have known better. Miley always pushed it.

"Lilly would hate to see you like this," Miley said, concerned.

"Well it's a good thing Lilly isn't here, then," Joe snapped. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted it. "I'm sorry, Miley. I just…it feels weird to be doing anything without her."

"She wouldn't want you to be like this. You can even ask her!" Oliver exclaimed.

"Does she know?" Joe asked quietly.

"That you're in love with her or that you're moping?" Nick asked cheekily, trying to lighten the mood.

"Both. Either." The other three looked at each other. This was the closest Joe had ever come to outright saying that he was in love with Lilly.

"Maybe you should tell her," Miley suggested softly.

Joe laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah, I'll just call her up and tell her, 'Hey Lilly, funny story…I'm in love with you! And I know you're in Paris and I'm in Malibu, but we could totally make it work!' That'd go over real well."

"Just…just think about it, okay?" Miley and Oliver left, leaving Nick and Joe alone. Nick sat down beside his brother. They were both silent for a long while, neither really wanting to continue this conversation.

"Hey Joe?" Nick broke the silence.

"Yeah, Nick?" Joe responded lifelessly.

"I love you, you know that right?" Nick's voice was soft and tentative, but sincere. It was actually really nice to hear. Kevin, Joe, Nick and Frankie knew that they all loved each other, but they never were really vocal about it. So it made it that much more meaningful when they actually said it. That's why Joe could feel himself getting a little choked up.

"I love you, too, bro," Joe said.

"I'm worried about you," Nick began. "Lilly's been gone for six months. Since then you've been like this…walking ghost, except for when you talk to her or when you talk about her. You know she would hate this."

Joe sighed, knowing his brother was right. "I know…I just feel like I've missed my chance. I blew it when she was here and now I don't know if I'm ever going to get another opportunity to be with her. She's not coming back for a while and I don't think this is something you can say over the phone."

"But she needs to know! And anyway, you're a Jonas. You're romantic. You could totally make it work," Nick argued. "And what if she feels the same way?"

"You think she would?" Joe sounded hopeful.

"She'd be crazy not to, bro," Nick said. Then he added teasingly, "You might be ugly and really weird, but I guess that's what girls like about you."

Joe playfully nudged his brother and Nick nudged him back, which lead to a wrestling match in the living room. Joe won, but Nick was okay with that; because for the first time in six months, he felt like he really had his brother back.

**HMHMHMHM**

"So how's Joe?" Lilly's dad asked when she hung up the phone.

"He's doing good. Criticizing my shopping habits, though," Lilly replied.

Lilly's dad laughed. "Ahh, a man after my own heart. So when do I get to meet this boyfriend of yours?"

"Dad, Joe isn't my boyfriend," she blushed.

"He calls you enough. And he's sent you flowers several times. If you aren't dating him, you should be."

"Um, don't dads usually encourage their teenage daughters _not_ to date?"

"Well you're sixteen years-old. I figure you're old enough to make your own decisions," he said candidly. "Sure you're gonna make mistakes, but that's one of the best parts of life. Just don't do anything too stupid."

She laughed. "You know, you're one of the coolest dads ever. I love you."

"I love you, too, hon. And because I love you, I want you to answer this question honestly, okay?" Lilly nodded. "Are you happy here?"

Of all the questions Lilly was expecting, that wasn't it. She thought it'd be something about Joe or about whether she did drugs or drank (which she didn't), but not about if she was happy in Paris. And if Lilly was completely honest with herself, she wasn't really. She loved France and she loved Paris, but there was something missing. It didn't feel right. It didn't feel like home. There was no Miley or Oliver or Jonases…there was no Joe. Maybe if she had him, she'd be happier.

**HMHMHMHMHM**

"What would you say if I said I was going to Paris?" Joe and Kevin were sitting around in the living room. Joe was channel surfing and Kevin was strumming his guitar, trying to write a song that was floating in his head.

"I'd say that I was going to Timbuktu," Kevin quipped.

"But seriously…I'm thinking about going. It'd be a great opportunity and there's this study abroad program at cool that sounds really awesome."

Kevin raised an eyebrow skeptically. "So this has nothing to do with Lilly?"

Joe sighed. "I think I need her, Kev. I know this sounds stupid because I'm only 19 and she's only 16 but…I don't feel _alive_ anymore. I feel like…like I'm only half of who I used to be. And talking to her isn't enough." And Joe was also thinking about what Nick said about making it work. He knew that a relationship could work if they were in the same country, so either she'd have to come home or he'd have to go there. And since she wasn't coming home anytime soon…

"Well you gotta do what you gotta do," Kevin said. He started strumming again, trying to piece the chords together. "And I thought I was the romantic one…"

"Ha, yeah. I guess I picked up a few tips," Joe said sarcastically. "But seriously, do you think it'll be okay? I mean with the band and the parents and everything?"

"Well," Kevin said still looking down at the music he was writing. "The band needs a break anyway. That won't be a problem. But mom and dad might need some convincing. Although they'll probably be happy to get rid of you for a while," he joked.

Joe laughed. Kevin looked up abruptly. It had been a while since he had heard his brother really laugh. And he realized that he missed it. If going to Paris was going to make Joe happy again, Kevin was all for it.

**HMHMHMHMHM**

Lilly sighed, running up the stairs to her room. Her test this morning was absolutely brutal! And it was only Tuesday! How fair was that? All she wanted to do was lay down and take a nice long nap. She opened her door and was about to plop down on her bed when she noticed a package sitting on her comforter.

She picked it up, confused. It was from Joe. She opened it up and found a note and an umbrella.

_Lilly!_

_Happy Umbrella Day! It's a real holiday. At least I think it is. And this is going to get there a little late, but that's okay. I saw this and I thought of you, so I figured I'd send it. I know things between us aren't always easy, but thanks for sticking with me. Just remember, when the sun shines we'll shine together, told you I'll be here forever, said I'll always be your friend, took an oath, I'mma stick it out to til the end, now it's raining more than ever, know that we still have each other, you can stand under my umbrella (ella ella eh eh eh). That Rihanna's a kick, isn't she? But seriously, I'll always be here for you. I miss you lots!_

_Lurve,_

_Joseph_

_p.s. have you decided on a date for Joe and Lilly day?_

_p.p.s now I have "Umbrella" stuck in my head. I'll be singing it all day. Greeaaaat. But at least now I know it'll be stuck in your head, now, too!_

Lilly laughed. He was right. It was stuck in her head. She looked at the umbrella and opened it. She laughed when she saw the design. On alternating panels were colorful fish and the word SUSHI in bright colors. It was just such a Joe gift.

And that's when she broke. She started sobbing. She missed him and Miley and Oliver and everyone and…God, she loved him.

**HMHMHMHMHM**

It was Friday afternoon and Joe was excited. He was currently packing, because he was leaving for Paris tomorrow. That meant he'd be seeing Lilly soon. Really soon. His parents agreed surprisingly easily. They were buying his plane ticket tonight. He wasn't sure how long he could actually stay in Paris, but any time that he could spend with her would be amazing.

The phone rang, shaking him away from his musings. He scrambled around, looking for the phone and found it under his suitcase. "You forget what time it is?" The voice asked.

Joe looked at the clock. It was 2:15. "Except I did call, but your dad said you weren't home. So that totally wasn't my fault," Joe informed Lilly. He paused in his packing. He didn't think he'd mention quite yet that he was going to France. He figured he'd surprise her.

"Whatever," she brushed it aside. "Looks like I actually got the time difference right."

"That you did, my friend. It only took you six months," Joe joked.

"In my defense, I only screwed up that one time." Lilly changed the subject. "I got the umbrella, by the way. Sorry I forgot to say it the last few times we talked but…thank you."

"No problem. I meant it."

"I know." Lilly whispered. "Joe, have you ever done something that maybe you thought was the right thing at the time, but it wasn't?"

Joe paused for a moment. "Yeah, yeah I have." And even though he knew he was going to see her soon, in that moment he knew he couldn't let her go one more day without knowing. "You see, there's this really great, fantastically amazing girl that I know," he began. "She was moving away, and I was so upset that she was leaving me that I didn't tell her something very, very important."

"What are you trying to say, Joe?" her voice was shaky.

Joe took a deep breath. It was now or never, right? "What I'm trying to say is, is that I lo-" He was cut off by the door ringing. He decided to ignore it. He started again. "Lilly, I lo-" The doorbell rang again. He let out a frustrated groan. He thought he might have heard a giggle on the other line, but he was sure he was imagining it. "Hold on, Lilly. There's someone at the door."

Phone in hand, he opened the door in annoyance. "We're not interested in whatever your selling so –" His jaw dropped when he saw who it was.

"I figured it would probably be best to say what you were going to say in person," Lilly said nervously, closing her cell phone. Joe just stood there staring at her. Lilly bit her lip. "Happy Joe and Lilly Day?"

"Is this real?" he finally asked. "Are you really here?" Lilly nodded, tears in her eyes. Joe dropped the phone and let out a whoop. He hugged her, lifting her and spinning her around in a circle. When he put her down, he still head on tightly. "God, I thought you were just a dream. I thought I was just imagining you standing there. You're real. You're here."

"And I'm staying. I loved Paris, but it hurt too much being there, without you and Miley and Oliver and Kevin and Nick and…I'm moving back. I'm staying," she repeated, still pressed tightly to him so she was speaking into his shirt.

Joe felt his heart soar. He pulled back, his arms still around her. "This is…this is amazing."

Lilly laughed. "Yeah, it is. So there was something you wanted to tell me?"

"Hmm…let's see…oh! I wanted to tell you that Frankie got a new turtle." She gave him a look. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you…Kevin decorated his room with pink and purple unicorns and he has a fluffy pink canopy."

"JOE!" she cried laughingly.

He smiled. "You know, I was going to go to Paris. Tomorrow, actually."

She froze. "You were?"

"Yeah. I couldn't take not being with you anymore."

Lilly's eyes filled with tears. She hooked her arms around his neck, stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. Joe could have sworn he saw fireworks and all those other clichés. In any case, he was in heaven. After a few moments, they both pulled away.

"Wow," Lilly whispered, smiling.

"Yeah, wow," Joe agreed. "By the way, did I mention that I love you?"

Lilly's smile got even wider. "I love you, too."

"Happy Joe and Lilly Day," he whispered as he pressed his lips to hers again.

**HMHMHMHMHM**

"So what did Miley say about you being back?" It was an hour later and the couple was cuddled on the couch. They hadn't spent the entire hour doing that. They had decided to play a prank in honor of their holiday, and after putting that plan into motion, they decided to just relax and catch up.

"I haven't told her yet. It's supposed to be a surprise. And anyway, Miley's still in school so I couldn't have told her yet," Lilly told him.

Joe pretended to look affronted. "Oh, I see. So I'm your fallback." He pouted.

"Oh hush, Joseph. You know you're not the backup plan. You're the first person I had to see."

"Hmmm…that definitely deserves another kiss," he informed her, then proceeded to kiss her again.

They were still kissing when Nick, Miley and Oliver burst through the door. Kevin was with them.

"JOE!" he called out. "I'm home! Class was cancelled!"

The foursome walked into the living room and their jaws dropped to when they saw Joe and a blond girl kissing. Miley was immediately enraged.

"JOSEPH! How could you? What about Lilly?" she shouted. "What do you think she's going to say when she hears about this?"

The blond girl turned around. "She'd probably be really happy for him."

"LILLY?!" four voices cried out in shock.

"Surprise!" Lilly jumped up from the couch and waved her arms in the air. Miley recovered first. She let out a scream and ran to hug her best friend.

"What are you doing here?!" she yelled.

"I'm back. To stay this time. It sucked being without you guys."

Oliver walked over and put his arms around both girls. "The terrible trio, together again!" he crowed happily. "I missed you, Lil-lay."

"I missed you, too, Ollie. What about my brothers?"

Nick and Kevin laughed. "Lilly sandwich!" Kevin yelled, and he and Nick squished her between them.

"Ow! I did not miss that!" Lilly shouted. The two boys quickly moved away. "Okay, maybe I did. It's so good to be together again!"

"Yeah! And now maybe Joe will leave the house. In the six months you were gone he would not go anywhere," Nick said. "He'd just sit at home and mope-" He was cut off by Joe slapping his hand over Nick's mouth.

"No one wants to hear that, Nicholas," he said sheepishly.

"That's okay, Joe. I missed you, too," Lilly said as she walked over to him and put her arms around him.

"You two are absolutely adorable," Kevin said smiling. "I'm gonna go put my stuff in my room, and then we can all catch up."

Miley started to say something when he left, but Lilly held up a hand to shush her. "Hold on," she whispered.

"Wait for it…wait for it," Joe was saying. "5…4…3…2.."

"JOE!" Kevin's angry voice yelled. "Why does my bed have a pink canopy? And what are all these stuffed unicorns doing in my room? I am so gonna hurt you!"

"Haha, gotta go!" Joe told everyone. He gave Lilly a quick kiss on the lips and ran out of the house when he caught sight of Kevin sprinting into the room. Nick ran after both of them to try to calm Kevin down.

Lilly laughed as Miley and Oliver both came and put an arm around Lilly's shoulders.

"I guess Dorothy was right!" Lilly said. Oliver understood and rolled his eyes. Miley looked confused.

"Why's that?" the brunette girl asked.

"There really is no place like home." Miley groaned. Lilly tickled her. Oliver tickled Lilly. The three collapsed onto the couch laughing.

Lilly smiled. It felt like home.

**HMHMHMHM**

**So I know the ending was incredibly cheesy, but I liked it. And despite all the Joe/Lilly pining away for each other, I wanted it to end this way so as to give equal importance to her friendship with Oliver and Miley. So there you go…I hope that was a satisfying sequel to "A Reason to Stay." If not, you can just pretend that this story doesn't exist. And to those who are waiting for chapter five of "If Cupid Had a Heart", it should be here by this weekend. Woohoo! **

**Please revieeeew! It makes me happy :) **

**Thanks again for reading!**

**-v**


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